The International House of Mojo

PC Gamer UK has released a review of the upcoming LEC title, Jedi Outcast. They gave it excellent marks, and revealed some interesting tidbits as well. Here's what they had to say about the game overall:

"A consistently excellent, always varied 3D shooter.
[It's] The Star Wars game [that] fans deserve."

Some facts revealed in the review (hilight for spoilers):

• You get to fight alongside Lando (voiced by Billy Dee himself) and Luke.
• First Level: armed with only a stun baton + a Bryar Blaster you must gain acces to an imperial outpost (by shooting the main doors with a gun emplacement)then Jan helps you infiltrate the outpost.
• You get to control an R5 unit and a mouse droid.
• There are controllable vehicles in later levels (at Yavin).
• Fight against the Reborn - a dark sidecult and Shadowtroopers who weild lightsabers.
• The final boss is a dark Jedi "whose appearance is bound to suprise you."
  

Thanks to JediknightII.net (as always) for the info.

Source: JediKnightII.net

Tomorrow there will be a chat event featuring Anthony Castoro and Raph Koster, hosted by Station.com.

This is the third official chat from the makers of Star Wars Galaxies, and this one will focus on game systems and skills. If you're at all curious about this promising title, be sure and stop by!

The event will take place on Tuesday, February 12th at 5PM Pacific.

Source: Galaxies Product Page

The trailer is up for you Lucas Online members at this link. And damn is it sweet.

In anticipation of the official JKII trailer, which will be previewed at 6:00 PST tonight for LucasArts.com members, LFN site JediKnightII.net is having a hype party. The gathering will be held in #JediKnight on irc.gamesnet.net tonight starting at 5PM PST (8 EST). Discussion, observations, and general obsessing about Jedi Knight II is greatly encouraged. As an added bonus JKII.net will be releasing 3 exclusive screenshots at the start of the chat.

Remember, signing up at LucasArts.com is free and takes no time at all, so if you haven't yet it's in your best interest.

Tonight to round off all the Starwars news, we have a nice download for you boys and girls. Bgbennyboy has created a quick fix to get LucasArts adventures working in WinNT, Win2k and WinXP. The file is 80kb and uses VDMSound. So far supported games are:

Fate of Atlantis (White Label talkie cd version)
Last Crusade (White Label cd version)
DOTT (While Label talkie cd version)
Full Throttle (Original cd version)
Sam and Max (White label talkie cd version)
Monkey Island 2 (White Label cd version)

There are some untested games, but you should read the attached readme for more information. I have been unable to test this fix because right now one of my CD drives won't close and the other one won't open! So we would appreciate some feedback on this. Remember, its not supported by LEC. That's all folks!

Jedi Knight II fans, especially those who follow the forums, are probably aware of the controversy that has sprung up over the call to separate JKII's force powers down the middle, creating Light and Dark players in online games. LFNetwork site JediKnightII.net, in an attempt to settle the debates, has gone to the source and interviewed Raven Software's Pat Lipo, head of JKII's multiplayer component.

I realize that there is an interest in allowing light-and-dark jedi to exist in the game ? while it's not like such a request is unreasonable, I do believe that the voiced support for such an option reflects a few aspects of the general internet community...

The first is that no matter what, people want as many options as possible. Who would vote against such a thing, if it meant that each person could have their own way?

The second is that gamers always want more, to be more powerful than ever, to have all positives and no negatives. Many people dream of playing a Druid with a Warrior's Dual Wield ability in Everquest, or of commanding a battalion of Terran Tanks supporting their Protoss Carriers in Starcraft...

Lots more interesting details and information behind the decisions made when creating the JKII multiplayer experience can be found in the complete story.

According to a LucasArts game alert, LucasArts.com will feature the first ever Jedi Outcast game trailer on Friday. However, if you are a Lucas Online member, you can view the trailer Thursday night after 6:00 p.m. (PST) at this URL. So sign up if you haven't already.

Lucasarts has launched the website for their highly anticipated game Star Wars Jedi Starfighter(Expected in March). Along with the new site come the first screenshot, concept art, and three beautiful wallpapers.

Also posted is an interview with Haden Blackman (LucasArts story developer, and concept artist for Star Wars Starfighter) about his work with the character Nym, who recently spawned a new comic book and short story from Dark Horse (comics). The interview also concerns the upcoming comic book series based on Star Wars Jedi Starfighter. Here's a snippet:

"At that point, it all came together, and we realized how cool he looked," says Blackman. "There's something you can do with an alien that is harder to do with a human character. You can really punch it up and go overboard with his emotion, so we really made him wear his emotions -- especially his anger and frustration -- on his sleeve. That was incredibly fun to write."

Visit the site here. Or go directly to the interview.

FragOff recently interviewed Kenn Hoekstra from Raven Software and Brett Tosti from LucasArts about the upcoming Jedi Knight II. The developers are asked about the length of the game, controls, and multiplayer options. Here's a question:

Some people are finding it hard to believe that Jedi Knight II was started in February, how much earlier than February was Jedi Knight II in pre production?

December of 2000 was when we started gathering reference materials and began work on a prototype for the game to present to Lucas Arts for approval to move forward with production.

If you haven't given the JKII stuff a look yet you probably should. It's looking to be one of the most polished games LEC has had their name on in quite some time.

Source: JediKnightII.net

Another collaboration with an outside studio has been announced. This time Planetmoon, creators of Giants: Citizen Kabuto, have been chosen to create a "Game to Complement LucasArts' Celebrated Legacy of Humor", a unique humorous action game for next generation consoles.

Planet Moon's game for LucasArts will follow in the rich tradition of wry humor and intelligently crafted play style of the company's classic titles. The game is expected to release in 2003.

"With Planet Moon's development of a unique humorous action game for LucasArts now madly underway, I suspect the pubs around its Sausalito, Calif., headquarters may be in for some tough economic times," says Simon Jeffery, president of LucasArts. "In seriousness, a relationship with Planet Moon is an obvious choice for LucasArts. It's one that will complement the brand of humor for which we're well known and bring to our fans the kind of game they've always loved."

This we can only assume is an adventure game disguised with some action elements, something I think we are about to see a good deal of over the coming years. No screenshots have been released but LEC put up this tiny teaser in their sidebar. Update: Oops, that character is from Giants: Citizen Kabuto. Carry on :)

Shacknews has an always-updated list of the best reviewed games on its site. Topping the current list are such LucasArts games as Sam & Max Hit The Road, The Curse of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, and Rogue Leader. Congratulations to LucasArts for making so many classics.

Source: Shacknews

According to a recent issue of PC Gamer UK, LucasArts is planning to "revive" their classic titles, such as Day of The Tentacle, Sam and Max Hit the Road, Full Throttle, and Maniac Mansion.

At this point, it is unclear whether they mean to rerelease the old titles or to sequelize them, but we will bring you the latest as it develops.

Source: GFN Forums

The Official LucasArts website has been updated with a classy new design. Not much to say except that it's... classy!

The Associated Press is reporting that LucasArts will be moving its facility. Here is the full article:

Lucasfilm Ltd. has signed an agreement to build a 23-acre office and film production center at the Presidio, a former Army base. The company's plans call for a 900,000-square-foot campus for 2,500 workers. Officials with the Presidio Trust had been courting the film company for more than two years. Lucasfilm special effects and post-production company, Industrial Light & Magic, along with THX Group, LucasArts Entertainment Co., Lucas Online and the George Lucas Educational Fund, will all move to the Presidio location. The Lucasfilm companies will occupy the site of the Letterman Army Hospital after the 10-story building's demolition. The Presidio Trust must meet Congress' goal of becoming financially self-sufficient by 2013.

You can view artist renderings of the impressive facility at Lucasfilm.com. Congrats go to all of the Lucas companies; it looks like it will be one amazing place to work. Thanks to The SCUMM Bar for the news!

Source: AP Article

Apple has started a new promotion to bundle some new software into currently shipping iMacs. included in the bundle are such titles as Simcity3000, Tombraider the last relevation, Escape From Monkey Island and Star Wars Pit Droids. Pretty interesting to see what Lucas Arts (and Aspyr) have got their marketing guys up to.

Source: MacUser

The other lawsuit...
As reported first on ScummBar, it seems that Clint Bajackians company CBStudios which earlier this month posted a MP3 of Clint's work from EMI, was made to take down the MP3 by LucasArts.

Are LEC being to pedantic now about their intelluctual rights and property?

Is this one step to far? Have your say and post your comments for this news item. We know quite a few LEC employees read Mojo, so have your say.

Source: TheScummBar.Com

LucasArts has released a new poll on their official website asking which character you would like to see make a cameo appearance in a new game. Your choices are Ben, Murray, Guybrush, Manny, Glottis, and Bernard... all original characters!

It has just been brought to my attention that during the last month, the makers of a Grim Fandango fan sequel called Indigo Island were reportedly sent a cease and desist letter from LucasArts. Not much is known at this point, but more information on this will be released in the near future.

Once again Lucasarts have added a poll to their site, and what does it say?

Which LucasArts game series is your favorite?

Yes! Monkey Island is one of those choices, along with Indiana Jones and Xwing. Which should you vote for? I'll leave that up to you!

Gamesmania has recently put up a new editorial piece focusing on the inner workings of LEC. Included are preveiws of Galactic Battlegrounds (PC), Jedi Outcast (PC), Rogue Squadron II (GameCube), Starfighter SE (Xbox) Obi-Wan (Xbox).(Hmm i notice a complete lack of PS2 titles here, guess Sony had their shot!). They also learned little snippets about the upcoming Phantom Menace DVD.

There, company president Simon Jeffery welcomed us, had us fed bagels in the morning and barbecued chicken and burgers in the afternoon, and had the gang demonstrate part of the line-up that many described as the strongest one at E3, and I have to agree. Their arsenal this year is probably their best ever, and remember, this is the company that gave us X-Wing Alliance and Jedi Knight.

I for one could have done with a few more adventures, but hey.

Source: Shack News